"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. -Jim Rohn"

Monday, October 24, 2011

Garage Games - Day 1

October 23, 2011

We arrived at Whole Foods for dinner on Friday night starving and ready to eat. They have a fantastic selection of foods that fit into the paleo lifestyle so we were all set! We nervously and anxiously talked through dinner (and the whole ride to CT) about our strategy for how we would face the WOD's the next day, but we all knew full well that we could talk about it forever and get no where... we needed to get there and get started to get the "jitters" out. After dinner we checked into the hotel and did our best to get a good nights sleep.

Saturday morning, we met up and hit the continental breakfast (along with quite a few other crossfitters) at the hotel. "Regular" people were wondering what was going on when they saw all sorts of T-shirts on people like "I cant dance, but you should see me snatch" as well as the assortment of odd looking footwear (aka five finger shoes)... we all know what they do and what they mean... but its funny to see people who dont look with confusion. We passed over the waffles, muffins and cereal and headed to the "egg" patties (yes, egg patties, not quite sure how they got that crust, but once you add hot sauce you were good to go) and sausages. Hubs and I both had a protein shake before leaving the room and we had a whole crate and cooler of food between us and KP and T.

Anxiety was high as we arrived at CrossFit Milford, got a parking space where we were going to camp out for the day, and headed inside to scope out the place, register and GULP, see what heat we were in for the WOD's of the day. We had a athletes meeting at 8:30am where Jason (the owner) reviewed the rules and standards for the WOD's and talked about that day. He also filled us in on what the "scaled" exercises would be in some of the events. We had entered into the competition as a scaled team, what that means is for some of the WOD's or particular exercises we would be doing a scaled down weight or modified movement (for example instead of pullups, we would do jumping pullups and instead of 115lbs for the deadlift we would do 95lbs). These types of scaling allows more people to compete and get their feet wet. We compete along side of the Rx division and have all the same standards for moves and time constraints.

I think my biggest stress for day 1 was making sure that I was warmed up enough for the WOD. We typically have a pretty extensive warmup before completing a WOD at the gym and on top of that it was pretty cool out. KP and I decided to head inside to do some practice clean and jerks after a half mile run. The first WOD was "simply" a ground to overhead. There was a 15 minute overall time limit, within that time each team member had to get a weight from the ground to a locked overhead position for 2 reps (we did clean and jerks, but we did see others doing snatches). The max weight that each individual put up added together was the score for the round. The catch, you had 14 seconds from the time you touched the bar to get the weight up twice... AND, through the entire 15 minutes you were not allowed to remove weights from the bar (unless you wanted a 2 minute penalty).

While warming up KP and I coached each other as best as we could. She and I were both shooting for PR's for this round. The most I had clean and jerked previously was 105lbs, and I think I did that twice but with lots of rest. Something came over me and I banged out two within 14 seconds at 115lbs... I was shocked and at that point I felt more ready than ever! KP had also got her weight up twice and her confidence was there as well! We met up with the boys and were ready for the first WOD.

As we were just about to start A arrived to cheer us on! It was so fantastic to see a familiar face and to know she took the time to come down (it was a 2.5 hour ride) and see us was awesome! It makes me happy to be part of the Crossfit Wachusett family!! She was a great cheerleader and she gets credit for all of the photos that are going to be in this post! Thanks so much A, it meant so much to have you there with us!

We found a judge and got settled. The next thing you know, the clock had started and we were on a roll. The mission was to get KP and I done as soon as we could so that the boys could hammer away at their goal. KP started strong and kicked butt. She PR-ed and started us at a great spot!! I jumped in and was able to get the 115lbs up again like I did in the warmup, felt awesome!! T went next and he and Hubs jumped in back and forth till finally T was maxed out (also at a PR) and Hubs kept going to hit his PR!! At that point we decided to take a penalty and drop the weight back down so I could shoot for 125lbs and than we could work back up for T to attempt another PR for himself. As I waited out the 2 minutes I stood there looking at the weight thinking back to the gym "there is nothing on that bar." I knew I could do it. The second I got the go ahead my hands hit the bar and within the 14 second time frame I achieved another PR! Its amazing what the adrenaline did for me. T used the rest of the time to attempt another PR and with that the four of us had our first WOD of our first competition under our belts. We were pumped!

After the WOD, we went back to the truck, had some protein and some food and started to gear up for the second WOD. We were pumped and ready to keep going. The second WOD was the sled push. This is something we have never done before. All of us were curious how long it would take to push the sled 40m and how heavy it would feel with 70lbs (for the women) and 115lbs for the men. It was a 5 minute AMRAP that was done similar to a relay. Hubs and I on one end and KP and T on the other. The goal was to transfer the sled back and forth as many times as possible in 5 minutes. Again the catch, you had to wait until the sled passed the line before you started turning it. If you did not, the whole team had to do a penalty of 3 burpees. We all know how much we love burpees.... so it was important not to be penalized.

This was a FUN one! Once we got moving we were flying! Hubs started the push and headed the 40m to T. T pushed it back and when he got to me he removed 45lbs and I pushed it back to KP, than K returned it to Hubs. We kept an excellent pace and it felt amazing. You were in lanes with a team competing right next to you so it was great fuel to drive harder and run faster. None of us were keeping tack of the relays and we successfully completed the 5 minutes with NO burpees!! At the buzzer KP was told we had 20 reps!! WOD #2 complete!

Alas it was time for WOD #3. This was going to be the killer. It started with a 1 minute row per person with a 10 second transition time for each person. The object was to get the furthest distance possible in that one minute. At the end all 4 distances were added up. We have all been working on our rowing and it clearly showed on this WOD. We were yelling and cheering on each other while each person was working. Personally it helped me keep pulling and keep the focus on the goal.

After the row, everyone had a 90 second rest to transition to their stations. Each team was lined up with one team member at each station to do the following 20 pullups (which we could choose to scale to be jumping pullups), 25 kettle bell swings, men 55lbs women 35lbs (we scaled that to 35lbs for men and 26lbs for women), 30 box jumps at 24" for med and 20" for women and 35 double unders (which we scaled to be 70 singles). There was a 25 minute cap on the workout. All 4 team members worked at the same time and when they completed their reps they took a knee, once all 4 were on a knee we were free to rotate to the next station. This continued until each team member did all 4 stations for three rounds.

Talk about KILLER. We were totally spent. As we all completed each exercise we would do our best to cheer on each other when someone was still working. It was hard to hear one another, but that didnt stop us. We were using every piece of motivation we could find. The box jumps were the hardest for me. The rest of the exercises I did my best to focus and breathe through the round. We were all so focused and determined to do this. Hubs crushed it on the pullups doing all three rounds of 20 prescribed! It was pretty awesome! The feeling of satisfaction after the WOD was over was unbelievable. Just look at Hubs' sigh of relief!

On that note... we went back to Whole Foods, stuffed our faces... went back to the hotel and soaked i the hot tub for a little wile than crashed for the night. Sunday was going to be a second day of excitement, anxiety, fun.... whatever you want to call it!! We needed our rest and believe me, it wasnt hard to fall asleep that night!

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About Me

I am a 30-something year old woman, "Mama" to a toddling little boy, married and holding a Masters of Architecture. I like to work (yep one of those people who actually love my job and enjoy working extra hours). So really, I am blogging about myself, an "average" woman working full time and on a mission to be healthy both physically and mentally.